End of contest update: The final results can be see here:
Post #526229. Thanks for all the participants for joining in this contest!
A new TASer looking to test the waters? An experienced TASer looking to try out new challenges? An old TASer looking to make a comeback? Or just a team of TASers looking to make a collaborative project? Well, I've got just the thing for you!
This is Dream Team Contest XI, the 11th entry in the Dream Team Contest series. Your host/GM/show runner for the event this time is me, Darkman425.
Contest Info
For those new to this or those needing a refresher, this is a contest where teams of 3-4 people work together to complete and optimize as much as they can for a given game. The winners will be etched into the annals of
Dream Team Contest history. While this is open to anybody, I really do want to see new people join in. This contest is a great learning experience for both general TASing skills and teamwork skills. Remember that people have trouble with different things, so working with others gives better opportunities for folks to do their best in what they excel at.
Some of the contests have different approaches for game choice for the contest depending on the host. This one will simply be me selecting a game that I've already got on the docket. It just makes it easier on me since it'd be a bit of work for me to handle a game choice vote after signups.
As an extra thing I wanted to do I will give out little PNG trophies depending on your placement in the contest. Think like the
QLDC trophies from the SMW Central contests. There will be 1st/2nd/3rd/participant trophies that you can cherish if you want to. Or don't. I'm not your dad. They will be revealed along with the game reveal.
Signup Rules
First and foremost: the deadline for signups is
16 September 2023, 23:59 UTC. Use a time zone converter to figure out what time that would be in your time zone. This means a little over 2 weeks to get signups in and teams formed.
- As stated in the Contest Info section above, teams will be in groups of 3-4 people
- You must post in this thread to sign up
- You can sign up as either a team of 3-4 people, or as individual entrants or as incomplete groups which will be grouped into teams after signups
- Team signups require each member to confirm their involvement in a group
- For randomly formed teams, it will be assumed to be 4 people per group
- Team names and team logos are highly recommended but not required
- If you have signed up but have to drop out during the signup period for some reason, please post that you have to drop out before the deadline
- Please refrain from trying to guess the game in this thread as that'd be weird, especially if you somehow get it right
Contest Rules
First and foremost: the deadline to submit your work to me is
4 November 2023, 23:59 UTC. Again, use a time zone converter to figure out what time that would be in your time zone. This means 7 weeks will be given to complete a TAS of the given game from start to finish.
- All input files, whether complete or partial, will be submitted via the TASVideos private messages system
- Multiple submissions can be made by a team but it is highly recommended that the most recent submissions are the ones that are most complete
- I will do my best to figure out which input file sent by a given team is the most complete but if I can't I will simply select the most recent submission
- The submissions are required to sync on BizHawk 2.9.1, the most recent version (as of 30 August 2023) of BizHawk
- While it's possible to use other versions, you must make sure it syncs on the required BizHawk version
- In the event of a Arbitrary Code Execution/Game End Glitch situation being found, there will be a split between runs that use said techniques and runs that refrain from using said techniques
- In the event of a tie at a given place, the teams that tied will share the same placement
- The contest deadline can be reduced or extended if ALL TEAMS agree to the change
- If you try guessing the game after the game reveal, either you look weird for guessing it right or look extremely weird for guessing it wrong
Pre-reveal Game Info
The game will be revealed around 1-2 hours after the signup deadline has been reached
assuming I don't forget like a dingus.
- As hinted at from the DTC 11 logo graphic this will be an arcade game
- No it's not Snow Bros 2 despite the title card. I'm not that mean
- The game is a platformer, though
- As stated in the Contest Rules, the emulator that must be used is BizHawk version 2.9.1
- Friends don't make friends use Final Burn Alpha
- MAME-rr is too out of date and doesn't have tools like TAStudio and such
- 1 credit clears for the game range around 10-20 minutes
Signups Status
Signups are now CLOSED and individual members have been sorted randomly. You can still send team names and logos if you want.
Teams
- Samsara, EZGames69, ikuyo, InfoTeddy - This Cannot Continue
- DrD2k9, CasualPokePlayer, ThunderAxe31, RetroEdit
- moozooh, Invariel, FatRatKnight, Denial140
- g0goTBC, Lightmopp, WarHippy, enderpal7 - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, + some 4th Guy
- PearlASE, andypanther, Randomno, Truncated - Part-Time Crime
- CloakTheLurker, Mikewillplays, somyeol, Mizumaririn - Rolling Knuckles
Free agents AKA individual signups without a team
Partial teams looking for a tank extra team members
And your game for the contest is...
...
Dangit. Forgot to turn off MAME cheats. Give me a bit...
Get into that...
Change that little bit, and...
The 1989 arcade game from Taito,
Crime City! Any resemblance to other movies or games is
definitely ripped off totally coincidental.
In all seriousness, this is a platformer in the vein of Rolling Thunder. You control Tony Gibson and/or Raymond Broady to rid Crime City of criminals, but without their car from Chase HQ for some reason. There are 6 stages with subsections to clear. The game's attract screen shows the controls for the game well enough that I probably don't have to explain them myself.
Y'all will be doing a 1 player TAS on the Hardest difficulty setting. The goal, of course, is fastest completion to the last input required to start the ending sequence.
Here's the version to be used for this contest:
Crime City (World)
MAME short name: crimec
Make sure your input syncs on that version of the game!
Oh, and here are your little PNG trophies that you can potentially win. They're all Taito themed which is why I held off the reveal until now.
Participation Trophy: Chack'n from Chack'n Pop doing a big stretch. This is awarded for teams that simply participate in the contest but didn't get top 3. Think of it as one of those "I was there" T-shirts you can sometimes buy at events.
3rd Place Trophy: a bronze Tiki from The New Zealand Story riding in a flying duck balloon. This goes to the team who submits the 3rd fastest input file. Truly a trophy for a guardian digger.
2nd Place Trophy: a silver Sayo/Pocky from Kiki Kaikai swinging her gohei. This goes to the team who submits the 2nd fastest input file. It's a nice blue silver that makes it stand out from just using the greyscale tool.
1st Place Trophy: Bubblun from Puzzle Bobble 2/Bust-a-Move 2 ready to strike. This goes to the team who submits the fastest input file and is thus the contest winner. A bit fancier than a gold star of success for good grade school homework.
Game Specific Rules
Do ask me directly if anything needs clarification.
- Under sync/DIP switch settings, difficulty must be set to Hardest with nothing else changed
- No continues allowed which for this game I doubt would save time anyways
- One player only though character choice is up to the team
- The end time is determined by the last input needed to start the ending sequence
- You can have an alternate input file sent to me inputting your name(s) after the ending sequence for the high score screen but I recommend making it clear that it is an alternate input
- In the event that a team doesn't finish the game but has submitted a partial input, their partial completion time will be the screen fadeout on the furthest scene cleared
Helpful tips
Admittedly this is mostly the same points as DTC 10 but with my own writing.
- Keep in touch with one another! Be sure to message your other team members however you can if there's anything worth mentioning. You can use Discord, the forums Private Messaging system, Skype, email, telegram, carrier pigeon, or any other progressively more absurd communication methods to keep tabs on each other. Even just talking advice, ideas, or just updates on your status to do things is worth mentioning to your teammates.
- Divide the work up! Remember that some people have specialties and expertise in some skills. Also remember that some people have trouble with different things. Definitely split the work amongst yourselves based on that kind of information to maximize the work being done.
- Play the game yourself! You don't have to necessarily get the 1 credit clear to properly TAS a game. I certainly haven't for some games. However, there's incredible value in simply playing through the game yourselves to get a good idea of how a TAS would look and feel like.
- Take your time! This game isn't particularly long and 7 weeks should be a lot of time to not only complete but also refine your work. You don't have to go into a mad rush to finish this in the 49-ish days of the competition. That generally leads to burnout, so take some of that time to take a break once in a while. Don't procrastinate, though, that's probably bad.
- Everything is useful! If you're working on something for the game, then generally you're also helping the team. RAM searching and watching, route planning, and other TASing things on the game are helpful. Doing research on other complete playthroughs of the game to gather data that's already known is helpful. Giving advice on what can be done, doing extra passes on the input yourself, and general discussions about the game are helpful.
- Take notes playing the game! Any bit of info you can find for the game can be potentially helpful in the now or the future. You might find weird tech that might not be immediately helpful but can be clutch when the time comes.
- Do external research if you time! It's worth noting is checking around for information about the game out there. It's an arcade game with a number of 1 credit clear videos out there so it helps to check out information beyond just the standard speed run videos. You don't need to reinvent the wheel if someone did it first but even if you do that means you've got proof something you've found is probably something that works.
- Most importantly, have a good, fun time! This isn't a serious contest, so don't take it too seriously. Even if this one technically higher stakes, you're just competing for some tiny PNGs I whipped up in a night with Paint Dot Net. it's not burning yourself out over tiny pictures you can download through your computer. If you aren't having fun, it's fine to take a step back for a bit as long as your teammates know as well. Even small contributions are still contributions, after all.
Alright, now let's all go for a kill time. This line will make sense when you start the game, I promise.
Anyways, have fun y'all!
Here's a spreadsheet of the time to complete each section, with a sum of best to the side as well.
Post-Script
This was a fun and interesting learning experience for me. While I have been a GM for a mystery tournament before, actually being the showrunner was a bit more complex. There were a few unexpected bumps here and there but in the end it ended up being pretty smooth.
Some games I considered but from the advice I received I had to cut:
